Born in the unlikeliest of places — the terrible, wastelandlike aftermath of post WWII Japan — Sony rose to capture the imaginations (and wallets) of consumers and engineers around the world. The company produced hit after hit after hit: portable transistor radios, CDs, the Walkman, the PlayStation, DVDs, life insurance(!!)... and yet ultimately fell behind its greatest American admirer, Steve Jobs and Apple. This is the incredible story of Sony’s human and technological optimism in the face of overwhelming odds — a story that, given recent world events, remains as relevant today as ever.

This episode has video! You can watch it on Spotify (right in the main podcast interface) or on YouTube.

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Sponsors:

Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 10, Vanta! Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”.  Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta

Thank you as well to Vouch and to SoftBank Latin America. You can learn more about them at:
https://bit.ly/acquiredvouch
https://bit.ly/acquiredsoftbanklatam

Links:

Steve Jobs’ Tribute to Akio Morita:    • Video  
Planet Money on Sony and SpiderMan: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/107653...

Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L...

Carve Outs:

How This All Happened by Morgan Housel: https://www.collaborativefund.com/blo...
The Model 3 is AWESOME: https://www.tesla.com/model3

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.